The book of Daniel is a literary rich and complex story known for its apocalyptic style. Written in both Hebrew and Aramaic, the book begins with stories of Daniel and three Jewish young men Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), and Azariah (Abednego) who are exiles among the remnant from Judea in Babylon in sixth century b.c.e. It ends with Daniel's visions and dreams about the Jewish community that offer comfort and encouragement as they endure persecution and hope for deliverance into God's kingdom.

Newsom's commentary offers a fresh study of Daniel in its historical context. Newsom further analyzes Daniel from literary and theological perspectives. With her expert commentary, Newsom's study will be the definitive commentary on Daniel for many years to come.

The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing. The editorial board consists of William P. Brown, Professor of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia; Carol A. Newsom, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Old Testament, Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia; and Brent A. Strawn, Professor of Old Testament, Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Friday, November 21, 2014

A project is underway to digitize the most valuable books from Russian library collections. RBTH visited the scanning department of the Russian State Library to see how ancient manuscripts are being brought into the digital age.

In the mid-2000s, the Russian State Library (RSL) launched the National Electronic Library project with the aim of digitizing books published before 1831.

Many important texts have already been scanned; from the hand-written Archangel Gospel of 1092 – the fourth oldest known East Slavonic manuscript – to the Octoechos, a book of Orthodox Church psalms printed in 1491 in Krakow. It is one of the first books to use Cyrillic script and is worth several million dollars – although, of course, it belongs to the state and will not be sold. “These books only used to be released by special permission – and only then to prominent scholars,” explains Tatyana Garkushova from the library’s scanning department as she flicks between priceless ancient manuscripts on her computer screen. Now they are available to everyone at the RSL Digital Library page.

[...]

For more on Old Church Slavonic and why it is important to PaleoJudaica, see here and links. For many more manuscript digitization projects, see here and links.

'An oasis of peace, where protection can be sought in these terrible times experienced by the country'', continued the monk who tells the ancient story of these monasteries. They are completely self-sufficient, hosting true farms exceeding 4,000 hectares, as Anba Bishoy, where 220 monks live, including a 'qsar', a small fortification which thanks to a drawbridge enabled monks to seek refuge from invasions and devastation that until the 7th century affected the region.

Choosing to visit Wadi Natrun, as Father Bejimi recalls, means seeking to draw closer to this world made of simplicity and spirituality. There are no mosaics or breath-taking frescoes among these walls. The art made by Coptic monks, often living in extreme poverty, however includes small masterpieces such as bas-reliefs, paintings, manuscripts, codes, icons, wood caskets, painted fabrics.

Some of the frescoes and icons date back to the 7th century, decorating the main church dedicated to the Virgin close to the monastery of Syrians, the smallest of the four. As well as preserving the most important work of Coptic art after the year 1,000, Deir El Soriany is famous for its vast library (in the 19th century, 1,000 books were moved to the British Museum).

Much more on the Deir al-Surian Monastery and its manuscripts is here and links.

Theme: Early Judaism
Featuring reviews of James Davila, Hekhalot Literature in Translation: Major Texts of Merkavah Mysticism (Brill, 2013).

M. David Litwa, University of Virginia, Presiding
Ra'anan Boustan, University of California-Los AngelesReview of James Davila, Hekhalot Literature in Translation (20 min)
Rebecca Lesses, Ithaca CollegeReview of James Davila, Hekhalot Literature in Translation (20 min)
James Davila, University of St. Andrews, Respondent (25 min)
Discussion (10 min)

I am staying in San Diego for Thanksgiving with friends after the conference. I will be very busy in the next ten days or so, but I will blog as much as I can, and I have also preposted lots of things. So do keep coming back as usual.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Arbel, Iraq -- Thousands of ancient Christian manuscripts are being kept safe at an undisclosed location in Kurdistan after being spirited out of Qaraqosh in the Nineveh plain in August, just hours before the town was seized by Islamic State fighters.

Father Nageeb Michaeel, a Dominican priest who master-minded the operation to salvage the unique collection, did not want to say where the collection was being held for fear of attack by ISIS sympathisers. But he allowed Rudaw to see it.

The collection is being kept in an air-conditioned room and it includes manuscripts and documents dating from the 13th century. They represent a sizeable part of Iraq's cultural heritage, he said.

[...]

The article does not specify the language(s) of the manuscripts, but my guess is that they are in Syriac and Arabic. Who knows what treasures are hidden in them?

Recent related posts, mostly with less in the way of good news, are (especially) here, and also here, here, and here, with many links.

In my last column, I discussed the rabbis’ edict that converting to Judaism in order to marry a Jew is forbidden. The principle behind the rabbis’ thinking was that, if you are going to take up the considerable responsibility of following Jewish law and sharing the Jewish fate, you must do so only out of a desire to serve God and not to obtain any personal benefit—even one as altruistic as marrying someone you love. In this week’s Daf Yomi reading, this same principle was invoked in a different context, when the rabbis considered the possible motives that might lead a man to contract a levirate marriage with his yevama, his deceased brother’s wife.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

The works are meant to evoke artists’ conceptions of what is fallow and the freedom implicit in letting go, according to curator Dr. Anat Chen, director of Emunah College’s art program. This Hebrew year, 5775, marks the observance of the ancient agricultural sabbatical in the Land of Israel. The College chose an artistic take on the cyclical event, in contrast to the more commonly heard debates on the loopholes of Jewish law or calls for environmentalism and social justice.

Indeed, in the scholarly world of ancient history and ancient texts, little is truly unimaginable—because so little, in the end, is truly known. Despite the piles of evidence suggesting that the Gospel of Jesus’s Wife is a forgery, there remains the possibility, however slim, that it is authentic. So the question becomes this: How much historical reconstruction are scholars willing to stake on such narrow grounds? Or, alternatively: Even if the fragment were proved beyond a doubt to be authentic, could one small piece of papyrus really be so important as to fundamentally change our understanding of the past? The problem with reconstructing the distant past is that with so little evidence available, the discovery of even the tiniest pieces can lead to outsize ramifications. It’s a situation ripe for abuse. The more sensationally these sorts of discoveries are reported, the more such abuse we can expect.

Incidentally, quite a few specialists now think that the Secret Gospel of Mark may be an authentic ancient text (see, e.g., here, here, and links), even though not so many years ago the case for it being a forgery seemed just about closed. So you never know.

Background on the Gospel of Jesus' Wife is here, with links going back to the announcement of its discovery.

Whereas the Bible is among the world’s most studied books, most scholars are primarily occupied with its textual contents, and most editors of biblical texts concentrate on the text found within manuscripts’ columns. However, annotations are found in manuscripts cross-culturally and the notes may sometimes shed new light on the development of text traditions and historical engagement with biblical manuscripts. These other categories of writing on manuscript folios and the cultural practices that produced them have not received the attention they deserve. Hence, the Bible as Notepad conference will address annotations in different manuscript and language traditions, the various relationships between text in the column and notes in the margins, and the roles and functions of annotated manuscripts as cultural artifacts, exploring – empirically and theoretically - the various practices that produced them.

As you will see from the conference program at the link, I will be there and will be presenting a paper on an unusual manuscript of the Hekhalot Rabbati.

In the upcoming episode of "Grimm," which is entitled "Dyin' on a Prayer," an ancient evil monster made up of clay will terrorize Portland. In addition, there will be hope for Adalind to escape her present situation if she can learn to her trust strangers, reports Carter Matt.

In a preview clip, Nick and Hank take a trip to a Jewish temple where a young Rabbi tells them about the Jewish folklore of a 16th century golem made from clay. Although its remains were supposed to be stored away in the attic of synagogue, they were reported missing in 1984 by a documentary film crew. As a result, the Rabbi shows the detectives an empty jar that was supposed to store the remains.

In the photo I see rather too much influence from The Walking Dead, especially in the golem on the right.